Half-term break lifts UK retail footfall 8.2%

School half-term helped boost UK footfall by 8.2% in the week ended 29 October, providing retailers with a much-needed uplift amidst the cost-of-living crisis.

According to retail experts Springboard, British consumers visited retail destinations for experiential days out, as coastal (+18.2%) and historic towns (+10.8%) saw "significant" footfall rises of 18.2% and 10.8%, respectively, while footfall increased across all UK regions and destination types - the greatest rise since Easter.

Footfall was up 10.7% in shopping centres, 8.7% in high streets and 4.2% in retail parks.

On a year-on-year basis, the 3.2% uptick was more modest than the 4.8% annual increase in the week before last, while the gap from 2019 of -13.2% was wider than the -11.1% print of the prior week.

Springboard's insights director Diane Wehrle said: "The school half term last week delivered a welcome boost to UK retail destinations, with the largest increase in footfall from the week before since the Easter week in April 2022.

"Customer activity increased in all three key destination types, however, high streets and shopping centres performed better than retail parks, both of which benefited from twice the uplift in retail parks. Performance ramped up as the week progressed, with footfall peaking on Thursday and Friday. By Saturday trips had tailed off, and footfall fell marginally below the week before."

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com